The Triangle
by savvykerri
Summary: I wrote this before the 3rd movie came out and updated it a bit after I saw it. Elizabeth feels terrible for kissing Jack, She can't stand looking at Will, but after they save Jack from the Kracken will things go back to being normal? Who will Elizabeth choose? Her loyal fiance or a charming pirate? Not many adult scenes but a few situations only for older please review :)
1. Chapter 1

Elizabeth leaned over the starboard rail watching the dark water ripple as the ship cut through it like it was glass. She looked at the stars reflecting back at her. After a week, she still felt guilt over what she had done. So much so that she couldn't focus on much else. She looked up at the big moon and sighed. At least she wouldn't have to feel this way much longer, Tia Dalma had set them up right away with a decent caravel and instructions on how to get Jack back. She couldn't say she didn't miss him, but the thought of having to explain her actions to him made dread build in her every mile closer they got to saving him.

She heard arguing coming from the captain's quarters, she knew Will had gone in there to talk to Barbossa about something, but he hadn't told her what. They hadn't exactly been on good terms lately. She had a terrible feeling he had seen her kissing Jack. She listened, emotionless, to the voices coming through the door.

"I don't want her sleeping in a rag of a hammock with all those pirates down there! I have to practically guard her while she's sleeping!" Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Although she didn't much care for sleeping around all those smelly men, she didn't feel threatened by most of them. She hadn't known Will had been staying up to keep an eye on her either though. It made her heart swell a little thinking about it. No wonder he had looked so worn out the past few days.

The argument went on a few minutes more, when finally Barbossa caved in.

"Aye, fine! She can sleep in here at night but it's mine during the day! Ye happy? Now get out and let me grab a few things!" The door flung open and Will came out still looking angry. He stopped and glanced at Elizabeth then back at the ground.

"You'll be sleeping-" "I heard." She interrupted. Will stood still a moment, walked across the deck, then walked back over to her, figiting. He finally decided on leaning over the rail beside her. She knew he wanted to talk about what had happened, but she didn't know if she wanted to...

"What are you looking at?" He asked quietly.

"The water." She simply replied.

He nodded, twisting his fingers together. It was making Elizabeth feel nervous just being beside him.

"Elizabeth-" he started, but Barbossa came trudging out of his captains quarters carrying a blanket and the map. He stomped up to the wheel, his furry companion squeaked and jumped up on his master's shoulder. Will grew very quiet. She knew he would wait until they were alone to discuss it.

"What is it, Will?" She asked.

"I...nothing. goodnight." He said and without a glance walked below deck. She sighed again then turned to go to bed.

"Night, captain."

"Hey missy, before you go to bed, I couldn't help but notice...somethings not quite...right between you and Will."

She forced a polite smile and looked up at him. "I'm afraid that's a rather complicated story, captain"

"I've got time." He said grinning. She knew he meant no harm but she just was not feeling up to talking right now.

"I know but I'm very tired...tomorrow." She said.

"Aye, tomorrow." He repeated.

She walked into the captain's quarters and found the least dirty blanket she could, wrapping herself up in it. She tossed and turned, finding it hard to rest. She felt guilt, sadness, and anger all welling up in her and didn't know what to do about all these emotions. She of course felt sorry for what she had done, she felt horrid that Will had seen, and she couldn't push the feeling away that she had gotten in the pit of her stomach when she kissed jack. She had wanted more and she couldn't lie to herself about that. He was handsome and witty, but every time she thought about Jack, Will, poor loyal Will's face would appear, looking at her with his big puppy eyes, saying why did you do that? Why would you hurt and betray me like that? I'd never do that to you... "I'm sorry, Will..." She said in her sleep and rolled over, finally giving into mental exhaustion.


	2. Chapter 2

When Elizabeth awoke, she knew it was very early, the sky was still Orange and pink, the sun not fully up. She climbed out of bed and attempted to run her fingers through her hair, and make herself look half decent. She brushed her teeth as best as she could with what she had, and put on a thin white dress. More of a slip then anything, but it kept her cool and it was comfortable. She walked out of the door and closed it behind her. Only one or two men were awake on deck, checking ropes and sails, she glanced around for him, but he wasn't up yet so she sat on the stairs to wait. She knew what she had to do to right this, and she had to right this before they brought Jack back on board. She had to talk to Will, explain what happened and why so she can finally put a piece of her mind at ease. As another hour passed, no sign of Will, but the rest of the crew seemed to be up and moving. She was getting worried. She stood up, ready to go search for him.

"Everything ok, missy?" She had almost forgotten Barbossa was at the wheel right above her.

"You want to tell me what happened now?"

"I...I guess so." She looked around. Will was nowhere to be seen so it wouldn't hurt. She explained the whole situation to him, how she had thought she was saving the crew, how she didn't think will had seen but now she thinks he did and he won't talk to her. She explained it all but left out the part about her feelings for Jack. He didn't need to know that.

"So that's why he's been treating ye different." He said rubbing his chin. He looked dead tired, but he was always sharp and ready for action no matter the time of day.

"Have you tried explaining it to him like you did me?" She looked around again,

"that's what I've been waiting here for, I want to talk to him about it. But I think hes avoiding me..."

"Then go get him and make him listen." Barbossa said grinning. Elizabeth grinned in return and walked away as he started yelling out orders and for someone to take over the wheel. He was right, she needed to go find him.

She headed down the stairs below deck and into the room the crew slept. She didn't see Will anywhere in there so she went on to check the other rooms. It's a bloody ship its not like he can disappear, she thought as she wandered. Finally in one of the storage rooms, she spotted a figure sitting on a crate looking in the opposite direction.

"Will?" She said loud enough for him to hear. He turned and looked at her, quickly turning back around.

"Will, we need to talk," she said stepping up behind him.

"I agree." He said. He was twisting the knife his father gave him around in his hands, as though examining it. She sat beside him, not touching, but close enough to talk in low voices.

"Will, you have to understand-"

"Why did you do it?" He said. She stayed silent. He finally looked her straight in the eyes for the first time all week. "Did you not think I would find out? Or did you not care?"

She felt that sick, guilty feeling in her stomach again, and found she couldn't look him in the eye, she had to turn away to keep from crying. She had thought over and over what she was going to say to him but now, her mind was racing, her guilt overwhelming, she was embarrassed. She felt as though she had been caught cheating on him. All she could manage out through her strangled voice was,

"I just...Did what I felt was right...i mean...it felt right at the time..."

It hadn't come out how she wanted it to, and clearly Will had not understood what she was trying to say, because his eyes grew hard and he stood tucking the knife away.

"I'm sure it did feel right." And he quickly left.

Elizabeth sat in that room half the day, she couldn't bring herself to face anybody else. She had disappointed and hurt Will so much, she didn't even deserved his love after this. She just was trying to fix things. What had happened? Her eyes hurt from crying, and her throat was dry, she knew she had to go back up with the rest of the crew eventually. She began ascending the stairs and ran into Will, literally, which knocked her backwards onto the wooden floor.

"Are you ok?," Elizabeth looked very confused at him. Didn't he hate her and not want to talk to her ever again? He helped her up and stood with his hands on her arms. She decided to try again. Be strong! She told herself.

"Will, what I was trying to say before came out wrong, I only kissed him to trick him into staying onto the ship, he was putting all of us in danger, and I couldn't risk our lives for his, you have to believe me Will, I love you!" He stared at her as she talked.

"So it is true."

"What?" She said confused.

"Barbossa told me what you told him...but I thought he had made it up to stick up for you. But it's the truth? You only kissed him to trick him?"

"Yes!" She said to herself more then him. It was only to trick him, that was it. Nothing more.

"I'm sorry Elizabeth, I should have listened, I just got so angry, thinking about you kissing him, and it kept replaying over and over in my head..."

'You have no idea' she thought to herself.

"I know you may not want me after all of this but I at least have to say it. I'm sorry. I should have told you right off the bat. Then this last week maybe I could have slept easier." She said. She didn't see the hardness in his eyes anymore, in fact she saw the old will she had known from when she was a child, the loving, kind, compassionate Will she had fallen in love with. His grip grew tighter and he hugged her, so tight she had trouble breathing. She hugged him back, taking in his musky scent, the little hairs on his face tickled her cheek.

"I'm sorry Elizabeth, I should have known better then to think such thoughts..." She hugged him tighter, leaning her face into his chest, she was just happy that he had forgiven her.

That was one problem out of the way. But her problems were just beginning. In three short days, they had arrived at the place Tia Dalma had told them about. Two islands with the sun setting between the two.

"Are you sure this is the place?" She asked Barbossa.

"We'll soon find out, lass" he said.

After the boat was positioned perfectly, they all watched as the sun began to set. "We'll be needing an item of Jack's to throw in the water." The captain said.

They all suddenly realized, nobody had anything of his. He always kept everything on his person. They frantically searched, they had only minutes before the ritual was carried out. Elizabeth, desperately went through everything she owned, hairbrush, no, hat, no, dress, no, bead, no-wait, was that a bead? A small maroon bead that she had seen nobody other then Jack wear, had somehow found its way in her things. She had no time to wonder how it got there, although she did wonder about Jack sometimes.

She ran out and held it up.

"I found a bead!" She said showing it to Barbossa. "Do you think it will work?"

"We have no choice but to try," he grabbed it from her, waited for just the second when the sun touched the water, then dropped it in the ocean. They all watched it sink lower and lower into the depths until they couldn't see it anymore. Now they had to wait. 13 minutes to be exact. Elizabeth sat down on a box, Will sat beside her.

"You seem tense," he said, "what's wrong?"

She tried to keep a poker face, but her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest.

"How am I going to talk to him after what I did? He's going to hate me...he'll probably throw me overboard," she said sarcastically.

Will grinned, but his smile quickly disappeared. He was silent a moment.

"All this time I didn't know you felt such guilt over this...I was too caught up in my own selfish feelings to think how you must feel..." He grabbed her hand. "He'll forgive you. You did what you had to and even Jack can respect that."

However simple the words were, they made her feel better. More courageous. They sat in silence, her belly still in knots.

"One more minute, boys, then we should have the pearl back up here for our taking!"

They cheered and everyone began to stir. Elizabeth knew everyone but Barbossa was excited to see Jack again. Even she was, though she doubted he would feel the same about her. The ship suddenly became eerily quiet, it seemed not to want to move. Everyone slowly got up and walked over to look down over the rail, looking for any sign of Jack and the ship. There was a small tapping noise on the deck behind them, they all turned, surprised, to look as the red bead rolled across the deck. However they were more surprised when they turned back around and the sunset was blocked by an enormous black shape. The Black Pearl!

"Wait...how...wasn't it..." stammered Marty, trying to make sense of the weird scene.

Barbossa smiled as he looked out at the ship. Elizabeth looked back behind them and gasped, nearly falling backward, a giant, slimy tentacle was making its way on deck. All the men raised their swords ready to attack.

"No!" Barbossa cried. "He's not gonna hurt us." He said calmly.

They watched as another tenticle slithered up on deck, the boat creaked and leaned with the weight of the creature. Suddenly there was an ear piercing roar, they all clasped their hands over their ears as the creature screamed. It sounded as if a building was collapsing for the loudness, but it was suddenly replaced with a loud yell. Elizabeth knew who it was before he landed with a sick splat on deck.

"Jack!" She half yelled, everyone ran over to him. He was soaking wet with bits of slime in his hair, but unscathed. He stood and looked behind him where the kracken was retreating back into the water.

"Yeah keep swimming ye slimy git!" He yelled, then turned back around looking at everyone as though he had just noticed them there.

"I knew you all would miss me," he grinned flashing his silver teeth.

Gibbs handed him his flask to sip from, and Pintel threw a jacket over his shoulders to help dry him. Elizabeth stepped forward a little into the circle. Jack spotted her and looked at her funny. He pointed a finger in her face,

"I have a bone to pick with you, missy." He kept his eyes on her a moment then looked over her shoulder at Will. "So you talked to ol Tia Dalma eh? What did you throw in the water?"

"Elizabeth found one of your beads in her things," Will answered. Jack nodded, stroking his beard.

"Well, let's go then!" He said waving his arms crazily in the air.

"And just where will ye be going with my ship?" Jack turned on his heels and grinned.

"Hector, long time no see eh?"

"Aye, not long enough," he replied. Jack stepped towards him but Barbossa stood his ground.

"Seems we have a problem, Jack. One black pearl, two captains."

"Aye, but it would be a much worse problem if we had two said pearls and only one captain eh?" He was silent a moment.

"Aye, I suppose it would. However she's my ship so if you don't mind..." He began walking towards the pearl, however Jack quickly stepped in front of him.

"I do mind," he said quietly. "How about we strike a bargain, mate?" Jack said slyly smiling.

Barbossa was quiet a minute, then said, "I'm listening." Jack held out an arm towards the captain's quarters,

"step into my office."


	3. Chapter 3

The crew all waited for what seemed like an eternity for them to come out, finally Jack opened the door announcing they had an accord. Barbossa split the crew up until it was only Elizabeth and Will who hadn't been sorted. Everybody was rushing around getting their things, and laying a huge board across the railings connecting the two ships so they could walk across to the Pearl. Will followed Jack across to the Pearl, and Elizabeth followed him.

"And what of us Jack?" Will said helping Elizabeth off the board.

"Barbossa needs you on that ship, mate, so shoo shoo," he waved him off like a fly.

Elizabeth turned to follow him back across the board, but felt a hand hold her arm firmly. She turned, it was Jack.

"You'll be staying on this ship, savvy?" He flashed a fake smile.

"Why!?" She said loudly growing frustrated.

Will stopped halfway across the board, listening.

"Because Barbossa is suspicious as ever now that he sees what can happen and he said no women, so I'd think you'd rather be on the Pearl, with me, then in the water."

"But! Will?!" She turned and looked pleadingly at him. He understood.

"Jack, are you sure she can't be on this ship with me?" He said.

"Most definitely," he replied, "it's the Pearl or the ocean, your choice." He grinned at Elizabeth.

"Jack, if I find out you laid a hand on her, I'll see to it the next town were in, your first in line to the gallows."

She yanked her arm out of his grasp, gave Will a dirty look and stomped off to the captain's quarters. She needed to get away from those two. Bloody Will, why didn't he try harder? She wanted to be with him! They were just back on good terms! Now she stuck on this boat with a man who she tried to kill and didn't want to speak to, let alone live on the same boat for a month together. She wanted to forget about him and focus on her life with Will. When she realized where she was, she felt a bit out of place. She had never been in jacks personal space. There were many odds and ends, boxes filled with strange things from his many expeditions.

She lifted the lid on one box and found it filled with strange items. Some lace, old flowers, a locket with a drawing of a pretty dark haired girl...She giggled to herself as she realized what these were; Keepsakes from women! Letters and perfume and pieces of clothing...Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh as she went through all of the items.

"You forgot your things" She heard a voice at the door and spun around quickly, the smile fading from her lips. Jack was holding an harmful of her stuff she had left behind on accident.

"Oh, well...thank you..." She said awkwardly. He tossed the stuff on his bed then walked towards her.

"Why do you keep all of these things, Jack?" She said turning to look at the chest again. She giggled at the thought of girls giving him thank you memoirs. But when she turned back around, she was met with a very serious, very close face.

"Why did you do it?" He said lowly. Her smile faded and she walked over to the bed where her things lay, she moved them around absentmindedly, trying to avoid the question. But she couldn't...might as well clear the air now. Maybe she could get rid of the guilt ebbing away at her sanity.

"I dunno, Jack...I just...thought it was the right thing to do...I knew that thing wouldn't stop chasing us until you were gone...I didn't want to endanger the whole crew because of you..." She picked her words carefully as she played with a button on her clothes.

"Apparently me and you have very different ideas of what right," he said quietly.

She sat on the bed and sighed. "What I really came in here for, was to say I'm sorry..." He said standing still.

"Sorry?" She said and looked up at him, "sorry for what?"

"Well...for being so irresistible..." She had to stare a moment to see he was joking, realization washed over her and she jumped off the bed to hug him tightly.

"I'm so glad your not mad, Jack" she said into his wet shoulder.

"Yes well, I understand why you did it, wanting to save the crew and all, but..." He pulled back and looked her in the eyes, "you can't say you didn't enjoy that kiss?" He kept his face close to hers. Elizabeth pulled a string of slime from a dreadlock,

"your right...I can't..." She let go of him. "Anyway, you never answered my question," she said trying to change the subject. She looked back at the chest of girls things.

"We'll I just..." He lifted the lace, "don't much like throwing things away," he dropped it back in the chest uninterested. He began to walk out the door.

"Jack?" He stopped with his hand on the knob. "How is the ship still in one piece? It's not even wet?"

He looked at her as though it was the most obvious thing in the world,

"magic, love," then walked out of the door.

A few minutes later, Elizabeth followed him out, up to the wheel.

"Captain?" Gibbs called, walking up the stairs towards them.

"Aye?" Jack called while he was walking.

"Where are we headed?"

"Ah," Jack said raising a finger, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a map. He sprawled it across a crate and looked it over. "There!" He said pointing a finger at an area of the map.

"There?" Gibbs repeated looking confused.

"Aye, there!" Jack grinned Elizabeth chimed in,

"Why there?" Jack looked at her quickly,

"who is the captain of this ship, love?" He raised his eyebrows, "trust me, I know what I'm doing."


	4. Chapter 4

They were in for a long journey for sure. They must sail around the tip of south America, through the Pacific, and to a small island off the coast of Asia called Singapore. Jack had his mind set they had to go there. He said they could get rid of Jones once and for all once they had a certain Sao Feng on their side, apparently every pirate Lord had responded to a certain song except him. Elizabeth knew little about the song but apparently it was a sort of beacon to gather all the pirate lords.

The journey itself was sure to be dangerous, not only would supplies always be low, but all that open water means enemy ships and the kracken could come up anytime it's told thanks to Norrington. The pirate life didn't look quite so glamorous to Elizabeth anymore. It had only been a week or so but the days seemed to be dragging by slower and slower. And the closer they grew to south America, the hotter and more humid it got. She had never been so happy that she didn't have to wear a corset in her life.

On other subjects, Elizabeth and Jack were on better terms. They hadn't had much time together though, Jack seemed to be avoiding her, and as hard as that is to do on a ship, he was doing quite a good job. No matter though, today Elizabeth was fixated and determined that this whole thing was Norrington's fault. Stupid bloody Norrington. She spotted Jack up at the wheel checking his compass, she decided to talk to him about it, maybe he would have something to say to put her in a better mood.

"Jack," she called, walking up to him.

"Aye?" He said snapping his compass closed, avoiding eye contact with her.

"Why do you think Norrington did it?" She said coming to a halt facing him. He turned his head and looked at her a moment. "Why do you think he gave the heart to Beckett?" She said a bit quieter this time.

He observed the ocean for a minute and his mustache twitched. "Sometimes good people do bad things for good reasons, sometimes bad people do good things for bad reasons...Norrington was a good man who did bad things for bad reasons, even though he thought they were good." He stared ahead at the ocean. "He doesn't realize the full effect of what he did...He was just trying to get his life back in order."

Elizabeth sighed and moved closer to lay her head on Jack's shoulder. "It seems like he would think his friends were more important to him." She said.

"You would think, but...apparently not..." He carefully lifted an arm and rested his hand on her shoulder in a sort of half hug. It gave Elizabeth comfort, and some other feelings she tried to push away. 'You're engaged to Will, don't even let yourself get these feelings' she reprimanded herself. She suddenly stepped away, throwing his hand off of her.

"Everything alright, love?" He said looking after her.

"Yes...and stop calling me love!" She said angrily. Will...stay focused on Will.

But God she was lonely...

No it didn't matter, she was engaged...

while the war raged on in her head, Jack grinned behind her, suddenly realizing what was happening.

"Why, love?" He said quietly, taking a step towards her.

Oh he was going to have fun, he thought to himself. "Because!" She turned abruptly walking towards him fiercely,

"I'm not your love!" She turned, attempting to find somebody on deck to save her, but they were all below, eating lunch. Jack stepped closer to her, she tried to squeeze in front of him to get down the stairs, but he grabbed her, and pushed her against the wheel, suddenly her brain wasn't working right, Jack's face was so close to hers...She could smell his delicious scent, rum, leather and sea spray. Her breath caught in her chest.

"I don't think what you did to me was very nice," Jack said, his face now serious, "leading me on like that then tricking me to me own death...I think I deserve a bit of payback after that maneuver..." his voice was low and deep, Elizabeth not caring what he was saying as long as he kept talking...

"I...No...No!" She said attempting weakly to get away, her pressed his body to hers and she tried to push him, but as he leaned in and forced his lips upon hers, her hands became fists holding onto his shirt tightly. The kiss was fierce and desperate, she couldn't get enough, she leaned up to better turn her head, Jack's hands finding their way to her hair where he entangled his fingers in her waves. A small moan escaped her lips, and Jack moved his lips from her mouth to her neck where he continued his fierce kissing. She was holding onto his clothes to stay standing, her legs like jelly, and her body absolutely on fire with lust. 'If Will could only see his girl now' he grinned to himself.

But he suddenly didn't feel right about the situation.

He bit his lip and pulled back.

"Don't stop Jack," he heard Elizabeth say, her eyes dark and face determined.

"I...I can't do this." He said, hardly believing what he was saying. "I can't do this to Will, he's the only real mate I've ever had."

It was as though somebody reminded Elizabeth what was happening. She snapped back to her senses, looking down blushing. Tears stung at her eyes. God, how could she have let this happen...how had she completely forgotten about Will?

"This is all your fault!" She said, angry tears welling up in her eyes.

"I wouldn't say all mine, dear...you seemed to be quite enjoying yourself..." He grabbed the wheel as she walked to hang over the railing looking very depressed.

A million thoughts swam through her mind. What if Jack let it slip that that had happened in front of Will? What if Will saw that one too? She couldn't get out of it...She looked around to see how far behind the other ship was...it was far enough but what if he had looked through the telescope at them? Oh God the guilt was back...

"Don't tell Will..." She said loud enough for Jack to hear.

"Only if you don't," he said more worried for his safety then hers if William found out about him kissing his girl.

The few weeks that followed were very awkward between the two of them. Jack kept avoiding her, and Elizabeth helped the crew with what she could and his away the rest of the time. Boring was one word that could be used to describe this trip.

"Gibbs," Jack called, watching Elizabeth look out at the ocean.

"Aye?"

"Let the others catch up to us, were going to stop for a day and make port to restock and refreshen.

"Aye sir!" He said a bit more enthusiastically.


	5. Chapter 5

The smaller boat caught up with the Pearl and Elizabeth's stomach was in knots. 'Please don't let him have seen that kiss, please' she begged in her mind. The crew threw the board over the railings again and a few of them, including Barbossa and Will made their way over. The moment of truth.

Will smiled and trotted up to Elizabeth hugging her tightly

. "Elizabeth, I've missed you," he said smiling at her. She grinned and internally breathed a huge sigh of relief. He hadn't seen. She hugged him back, harder then ever.

"How is everything?" He looked her in the eyes as he spoke quietly.

"Fine," she said simply.

"Meaning I don't have a reason to kill Jack?" He grinned.

"Of course not," she smiled and hit him playfully.

"Darn, we will have to find a reason," they laughed, Elizabeth less enthusiastically so. Jack watched the two of them rubbing his chin. He walked over to Barbossa. "Tomorrow we will make port for awhile, gather some supplies and rest a bit."

"And just where do ye plan on docking the ship's? We can't just pull into a royal port and expect a warm welcome?" Barbossa sneared.

"No...but that would be something eh?" Jack grinned. "No I've been to a free pirate port nearby though and it may be the last free one for a ways. We should stop while we can."

"Aye, how far?"

"We should be there by sunset tomorrow," he gave Barbossa his heading and he walked away, back across the board to his ship.

"Come on ye landlubbers or you'll be swimming the rest of the way!" Barbossa yelled at his crew. Elizabeth leaned in for a kiss but Will had quickly rushed off before she could even say anything to him. She looked down, fidgeting her hands, then walked off and out of sight. After getting the ship off into the right direction, the sun began to set, splashing orange across the sky and making it hard to see. Jack finally had a moment to look for Elizabeth, after not finding her anywhere on deck or below, he went towards his quarters, thinking perhaps she had gone in there for some solitude. When he walked in, he found he was right. She was sitting on his bed with her knees drawn up and her head resting on them. Jack quietly shut the door and sat beside her on the bed.

"I saw what happened...or rather didn't happen, are you ok?" He asked.

"Peachy," she replied roughly. Jack was slightly taken aback. He thought about getting up but she began talking again.

"But it's fine. I know he's just terribly busy...too busy to say goodbye to his own fiance..."

"Love, I'm sure your over thinking this. You saw how happy he was to see you. He was probably afraid they would make him walk the plank if he didn't go do his share of the work." As simple as the words were...Elizabeth felt better. She probably was blowing this whole thing up. She grinned at herself. She was just being foolish. Jack laid a hand on her back.

"He's probably holed up somewhere thinking about what a stupid thing he did, and figuring out a way to make it up to you." He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Your right, Jack...I'm being stupid..." She smiled at him. "Thanks," she said genuinely, then hopped off the bed and back out on deck.

It grew quite chilly that night for no particular reason. Elizabeth usually slept up on deck with a blanket surrounded by extra rope for the mast, but this night, the cold wind whipped her hair around her red cheeks, and no matter what way she lay, she just couldn't get warm. Below deck may be warmer, but being woke up to Pintel and Ragetti staring at her pretty much ruined that for her. She had no Will to watch over her and felt vulnerable. She squeezed her eyes closed trying to rest, so tired from her weird day. She heard footsteps walk towards her and the moonlight was hidden by a shadow, but she didn't waste the energy to look up. She hoped it wasn't one of the dirty pirates that tried to woo her before. But she thought if it was, Gibbs would have told him off by now. The figure stooped over her and something brushed her cheek. She brought a hand up to feel...hair? She looked up.

"Jack? What are you doing up?" She worried something was wrong. He motioned her to follow him and she stood letting the blanket fall on deck while she trailed after him. She shivered and held her arms close as they walked. When they got into the captain's quarters, Jack shut the door so no wind could get in...Oh that was so much better, Elizabeth thought, feeling a noticeably warmer difference.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I want you to share my bed," Jack declared, as though it was an amazing gift.

"Jack, I-!"

"By share, I mean have," he corrected himself. Elizabeth laughed with relief.

"But where will you sleep?" She asked concerned.

"Honestly, love, I can't get a moment's rest while your out there freezing and I'm all curled up in here cozy as a cat, besides, I'm not tired, I'm gonna give Gibbs a break for the rest of the night." Truth was he was exhausted, but could not rest well at all knowing Elizabeth was outside in the cold.

She smiled at him, "thank you."

He made sure the tightly close the door behind him and he locked it so no sneaky crew members would go creeping in, the last thing he wanted was for her to be taken advantage of. He respected her for staying clean for so long. He knew he couldn't do it. A few months maybe but years? No way... He ushered for Gibbs to go rest, and after he disappeared under deck, Jack hung limply over the wheel, rubbing his face. He was so tired...He decided on simply tying the wheel in place and resting his eyes a bit. He woke periodically through the night, checking the compass and making sure they weren't coming upon another ship. He was used to sailing like this. But he didn't like it. Why had he told Gibbs to go to bed? Jack was of course awake when everyone else awoke that morning. He heard a door creak and swore somebody called his name. He must be hallucinating. Sleep and rum deprivation, he told himself.

"Jack!" This time it was a but more pronounced. That was a real persons voice. He walked down the stairs as Gibbs took the wheel.

"Over here," he heard, and turned to follow the voice. His captain's quarters door was slightly cracked open and Elizabeth was peeking out of it.

"Come help me," she said as he walked in closing the door behind him. He turned and was met with Elizabeth's bare back. "Can you zip me up?" He heard her say, "this zipper is stuck..."

She held the dress up over her front. His hand twitched, for a moment he considered simply leaving, but finally reached toward the zipper and pulled it up. The dress was pretty enough, it looked like something a governor's daughter would wear...only a bit more rugged and wrinkled.

"Thank you, you have no idea what it's like trying go get one of these on yourself..."

"I know a lot about getting them off though." The words escaped him before he could stop himself. She rolled her eyes at him and went over to a bucket of rain water she had caught a few days earlier. She rung a rag out and washed her arms.

"May I inquire as to the occasion?" He said confused.

"Were going ashore today," she said washing, "I want to look nice for Will, besides, I may look like a pirate but I refuse to smell like one," He looked a bit offended, Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Aren't you going to do the same?" She looked him up and down.

"I don't need to worry about my good looks, they follow me wherever I go." She couldn't disagree and shook her head.

"You could still look a fair bit more presentable if you washed off a bit."

"Show me," he said throwing the challenge at her. Why did he enjoy tormenting her so much? All he was doing was making it hard on himself as well...Oh well...pirate, he told himself.


	6. Chapter 6

Elizabeth sighed and rung out the rag, walking over to him, she held the rag out for him to take, but he just stood there quietly trying not to laugh. Finally she reached out and grabbed his arm, and began to wash his hand off. It took a good bit of scrubbing to get all the filth off up to his elbow, then she started on the other arm. When she reached his tattoo, she began to wonder.

"Does getting one of those, you know...hurt?" She said still washing. He glanced down at his bird tattoo.

"I couldn't tell you," he said, she looked confused. "Rum is a powerful pain killer'"

"Oh," she looked a bit disgusted, "who gave it to you?" Jack was quiet a moment, knowing she wouldn't believe him. "Well?" She pushed.

"I gave it to meself." Just as he thought, she looked at him doubtfully.

"You gave yourself this tattoo?" She asked, her voice dripping sarcasm.

"Yes," he said looking offended.

"You drew this piece of art on your arm...while drunk?" She looked very amused.

"Yes, ow!" He yanked his arm back, "your rubbing a bloody hole in me arm." He cradled it.

"No matter that's as good as it will get I suppose. Now can you wash your own face or must I do that too?" Jack stood quietly with a stubborn look on his face. She sighed and rung the cloth out again to use on his face. After a few minutes of scrubbing, their faces inches apart, she finally said she was done. She had to admit, he looked quite a bit better with a clean face. He of course left the charcoal on his eyes, which she couldn't argue with.

"There, now no woman will be able to resist you when we dock." He certainly hoped she was right. They stood there a moment and looked at each other.

"You look really beautiful," he said not thinking about it. Elizabeth didn't quite know how to take that, so she walked over to the dirty mirror to fix her hair then followed Jack out on deck. The crew looked a bit surprised at seeing Jack so clean, but there focus went right to Elizabeth, who really did look beautiful.

The day seemed to drag on very slowly, nobody in the crew could wait to get on dry land and take a break from work and sailing. Finally, just as the sun began to go down, they spotted land, and the whole crew cheered in joy. They docked the two boats and everyone happily made their way off the ship, their pockets filled with coins to spend on drink and women. Elizabeth ran back in to check her appearance one last time before she followed them. Will stood on the dock waiting for Elizabeth to come down. He missed her and planned on spending the whole night telling her that.

He caught a conversation 2 of Jack's crew were having.

"Thank God for land, I didn't know how much longer I could take seeing those two oogling each other," "Can you zip me up, Jack? The zippers stuck!" One of them said in a high pitched voice. They laughed and kept walking, unaware of Will standing nearby. Another man followed them and said,

"That's nothing, while you all were holed up eating lunch one day, I was in the crows nest and saw those two practically going at it on deck!" His voice faded as he walked off the deck and onto shore.

Will felt as if his body was numb...they couldn't be talking about anyone else...it had to be her...He felt so hurt, so disappointed it made him feel sick, he turned and walked ashore, making his way into the nearest bar.

Elizabeth made her way down the ramp, expecting Will to be waiting for her, when she didn't see him, she hesitantly began walking. She didn't like to be by herself in a pirate port. She felt very uneasy getting wolf whistles and grabbed at by drunk men stumbling around. She looked around the port for awhile, he wasn't in any of the shops, nor walking around. She gave up and went into a bar. She was surprised when she walked in and saw will sitting at a table by himself with a glass in his hand.

"Will!" She called out happily, making her way towards him. He turned and looked, then quickly turned back, taking a large swig from his cup. Elizabeth sat down across from him.

"You look nice," he said, not making eye contact. Elizabeth knew something was wrong immediately. Will didn't drink, and here he had an empty glass in front of him, and one nearly empty one in his hand.

"Will...Why are you drinking?" She asked quietly.

"Why not?" He answered quickly. She didn't know what to say. She had never seen him act like this. He downed the last bit of that glass and went to order another. When he sat back down, he drank deeply from it.

"Will what are you doing?" Elizabeth said growing frustrated. He looked at her with hard eyes.

"Doing? I'm not doing anything. What have you been doing?" She knew by the look in his eyes, he had heard of seen something. Something about her and Jack.

"Or perhaps I should change the 'what' into 'who'." Those words stung.

"William Turner you know damn well I haven't done anything with anyone! If you have an issue with me then just spit it out!" She said loudly.

He slammed his glass down, making her jump.

"Fine!" His speech slurred, she knew he couldn't handle much alcohol, he never was a drinker.

"First of all, I'd like to start out by saying I was not born yesterday Elizabeth! You don't think I can tell when I look at you two? Second, how many times are you going to kiss another man and not expect me to find out about it? And third, I'm done. You cannot keep playing with my heart and expect me to be here when the other men let you down!"

She was so shocked she couldn't speak.

"You have nothing to say." He said simply. "You have nothing to say because you know it's the truth."

"Will, I-" but he abruptly stood up.

"No Elizabeth. I can't do this. How can I marry you when I can't trust you?" He said quietly.

"Unless you prove me wrong...its over." He said and downed the drink in one gulp, threw it on the floor where it shattered, and stomped off out the door, slamming it behind him.

"Oi! You have to pay for that!" The bar tender called after him.

Elizabeth sat in silence for a moment, trying to ignore the stares she was gathering. She finally decided on buying herself a drink. She couldn't handle all these feelings right now. She paid the man for the broken glass, and bought a large cup of rum. She drank it as though she were thirsting to death, hoping it would erase the last few minutes from her life. She stood up to get another, and felt the room spin a bit. She had hardly ever drank. The island with Jack, and a few sips here and there were all she's had. She began to feel numb. She saw why men could get addicted to the bottle, you don't care about anything, but after five more drinks, she was beginning to forget where she was and why. The bartender cut her off when she went to get another one and she threw a coin at him.

"Your still not getting anymore, missy! Your wasted as it is!"

"Ah who needs you anyway!" She yelled at him. She was beyond knowing what was happening around her, all she knew was that she felt good. Why had she been so upset earlier? She couldn't think straight so she couldn't remember. Somebody grabbed her wrist, she obliged to the pressure and stood following them. She felt quite dizzy when she stood, the room spun and made her stumble. But she kept following. When they got to the door, finally an alarm went off in her head. Somebody was taking her, she didn't want to go with them!

"No," she slurred, "stop...I'm...waiting for someone..." She managed out.

"And who would that be, love?" As they closed the door behind them, the man turned around and she saw who it was leading her.

"Jack!" She said a bit loudly. She practically jumped on him, so happy to see him, though she didn't know why.

"I see you've been drinking..." He said quietly. She threw her arms over his shoulders, bringing their faces close together.

"I only had a sip!" She insisted. Jack stared at her a moment.

"Come on, love," he grabbed her arm and began walking again.

"Where are we going, oh handsome pirate?" She said giggling.

"You need to get some rest," he said practically dragging her. Elizabeth let out a loud laugh and Jack turned to make sure she was ok.

"I don't even remember why I was in that bar, Jack!" She looked him in the eyes, "do you remember?" He turned and continued walking.

"I have somewhat of an idea," he said to himself. Will had been with her, most definitely, stupid whelp must had done something to make her drink like this. But then to off and leave her in a bar by herself? He was angry.

"Where can I lay down?" She said leaning on Jack, nearly knocking him over.

"Were going to the Pearl, love, you'll regret it in the morning if you don't."

"Oh good, I love the Pearl! Best ship in the six seas!" She laughed.

"I believe you mean seven, dear." She laughed even harder.

"Your so funny, Jack!" And with that she burst out into song. The song that she had in fact taught him on that damned island so long ago. He couldn't help but grin. The finally made it up to the Pearl and he dragged her into his captain's quarters.

"Jack," Elizabeth said grinning. "What are you doing bringing me into your bedroom like this?" She said with an almost childish, joking voice. Jack had no idea what she was talking about, so he ignored her and closed the door, but when he turned around, he was met with a very close and eager face.

"Your very handsome Jack..." She ran a finger down his jaw line. He closed his eyes. 'She's drunk, don't do anything stupid, she's drunk' he reminded himself. But she leaned up and kissed his neck gently, and he momentarily forgot where he was. Suddenly his sense kicked back in.

"No no no love, come on, you need a lie down," he guided her to the bed.

"Your right, Jack, I'm tired." She said with an upset look on her face.

"That's right, doll, just lay down, you'll feel better tomorrow." But before she laid down, she lifted her dress and tore it off over her head. Jack squeeked and ran to grab a blanket off the bed to cover her in. She had on a very thin slip, but it was all but see through and very short.

"What's the matter, Jack, never seen a woman before?" She threw the blankets off her. Jack tried so hard not to look, he really did. Oh God what had Will done to make her drink this much? She jumped on the bed and laid down.

"Come here Jack," she patted the bed. He hesitantly sat down beside her.

"Lay by me...I want to feel safe..." She said innocently enough. He slowly laid down beside her and she laid her head on his chest. She was asleep in minutes. Jack carefully put her head on a pillow and got up. If anybody found them like this, it would be hell to live with. He covered her, put her dress on a chest, and locked the door. He sat outside of the door and drank from a bottle until he eventually fell asleep.


End file.
